1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an agricultural combine having a rotary crop processing unit with a rotor disposed within a rotor housing and in particular to such a combine in which the axis of the rotor diverges from the axis of the housing in the crop flow direction from the housing inlet to the housing outlet.
2. Description of Related Art
Rotary combines having rotary crop processing unit are well known. Examples are shown in U. S. Pat. Nos. 5,445,563 and 5,688,170, assigned to the assignee of the present application. These two patents both disclose rotary crop processing units in which the crop processing unit has two or more sections. The relationship between the rotor axis and the housing axis varies from one section to the other. In both of these patents, the rotor axis becomes increasingly offset from the housing axis in the direction from the housing inlet to the housing outlet. This is accomplished by abrupt transitions in the housing structure from one section to another where the housing shape changes. As the housing shape changes, the housing axis steps upward relative to the rotor axis. The gap between the rotor and the top of the housing also increases at each step in the housing.